Contents

Development and design

Concept art of King Sombra in The Art of Equestria.

The show's story editor, Meghan McCarthy, and another staff member have stated that the character's name is Sombra.[5][6][7] A tweet by Hasbro's My Little Pony Twitter account spells the name as "Somber".[8] "Sombra" is a Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician word for "shadow", which comes from the Latin "umbra". A differently-shaded version of the armor around King Sombra's neck is used for the 2012 Design a My Little Pony Finalistsposter, as part of Steel Masquerade's armor. Jim Miller, the show's storyboard supervisor and King Sombra's voice actor, drew inspiration from the vocals of the Mastodon song "Crystal Skull" for his performance as King Sombra.[9] Meghan McCarthy has said that King Sombra was inspired by Sauron from The Lord of the Rings and is meant to be a dark presence.[10]

King Sombra is a dark gray unicorn with a black spiky mane and tail. Unlike regular unicorn horns, which match the pony's coat color and are straight and segmented, Sombra's horn is curved, smooth, sharp at the tip and it gradients from dark gray to red. He has sharp teeth with two visible fangs unlike other ponies and red—green when younger—irises, but most often his otherwise white eyes appear green and have a purple mist emanating from them, which disappears both times he is attacked. He wears silver armor on his legs and neck, a crown with horn-like points on his head, and a red cape that covers his flank. When his flank is shown briefly in Princess Celestia's flashback, he has no visible cutie mark. When he is turned to shadow in the flashback, only his head remains, and when he returns as an amorphous black cloud, only his eyes are visible at first.

The alternate universe version of Sombra in the IDW comics' Reflections story arc has a neatly smooth mane and tail with blue streaks. His horn is a solid color and segmented like other unicorns, and he still has green irises instead of red. He wears a light blue crown with a yellow gem, matching shoes and collar, and a purple cape instead of a red one. After the alternate Sombra absorbs the evil from alternate Celestia and Luna, he closely resembles the original King Sombra.

On March 15, 2015, prior to Sombra's reformation in the comics, Jim Miller was asked, "I would like your thoughts on this: are Sombra and Tirek the redeemable types? This is not about Season 5 at all[,]" and replied, "I don't want to speculate in case we ever decide to use them again."[11] A cut scene from Slice of Life would have featured Sombra inexplicably appearing and getting into a musical duel with Octavia Melody, inspired by "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." [12]

Depiction in the series

King Sombra being banished.

King Sombra first appeared in the show's season 3 premiere. Princess Celestia describes him at the beginning of the episode as "a unicorn whose heart was black as night" and took over the Crystal Empire. In a flashback, Sombra looks down gleefully from his castle at a chain-gang of Crystal Ponies, when two silhouettes of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna shoot a beam at him that turns him to "shadow" and banishes him to "the ice of the arctic north." Celestia says he was able to put a curse on the empire as he was imprisoned, which caused it to "vanish into thin air". Celestia demonstrates that if the empire is filled with hope and love, then those emotions will be reflected across all of Equestria, but if hatred and fear take over the Crystal Empire, black crystals sprout from the ground. When Celestia creates the crystals, her horn is engulfed in black mist and her eyes glow green and emanate the purple smoky trail the same way Sombra's eyes do, implying that she may have knowledge of his magic.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends travel to the Crystal Empire to defend it under the order of Princess Celestia. When they arrive in the frozen north of Equestria, they meet with Shining Armor on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. Sombra rises as a cloud of black smoke behind them and pursues them through the snow. Shining Armor confronts Sombra and shoots a beam at him, which Sombra evades and lets the beam pass through the black cloud. Sombra then charges at Shining Armor, and the scene cuts right before they clash. Twilight and her friends pass safely through the barrier and arrive in the Crystal Empire, soon followed by Shining Armor, whose horn is now encrusted with black crystals which prevent him from using magic. When they meet Princess Cadance, Shining Armor explains that Cadance is using her magic to "spread love and light" to protect the Crystal Empire and that King Sombra countered Shining Armor's protection spell.

Later in the episode, Twilight and her friends interview some Crystal Ponies. One pony who Twilight interviews tells her that she can't seem to remember anything before King Sombra came to power and flinches while a superimposed image of King Sombra's eyes flashes over her. She then says she doesn't want to remember anything about his rule.

King Sombra appears.

When Cadance's magical barrier starts to fade, Sombra approaches the barrier, but his horn is sheared off as the barrier rises again. It falls to the ground and transforms into a black crystal which embeds itself in the ground and begins spreading to the crystal gates of the Empire.

Twilight performs "a little trick Celestia taught [her]", which gives her the same green glowing eyes and horn engulfed in black mist as Celestia did at the beginning of the story. She turns the throne black with this spell, and slowly makes the throne room look the way it did when King Sombra ruled. She finds a hidden staircase, and at its bottom is "a doorway that leads to your worst fear", created by "King Sombra's dark magic". When Twilight is under the spell, she has the same green eyes as Sombra; Spike wakes her from this state, but then he falls into it himself and his eyes change the same way, and Twilight wakes him in turn.

Eventually, Twilight and Spike find the Crystal Heart, but Sombra, able to invade once Cadance is no longer able to perform her spell, traps Twilight in a ring of black crystals to prevent her from using the heart. Twilight tells Spike to take the Crystal Heart to Cadance. At first Sombra advances as a pillar of black smoke, and he materializes as his unicorn self at the end of it. Right as he's about to take the Crystal Heart from Spike while standing upon a growing, menacing shard of his own crystals, Cadance, propelled by Shining Armor who threw her at Spike, snatches Spike and the Crystal Heart before he can reach them. With the return of the Crystal Heart and Cadance saying "Use the light and love within you to ensure that King Sombra does not [return]", the Crystal Empire is restored to its former glory and Sombra, much to his horror, shatters to pieces in a flash of light, along with his crystals, and his remaining smoke dissipates.

In The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 1, due to Starlight Glimmer altering history, she inadvertently creates an alternate future where Sombra—unopposed by the Mane Six and Spike—has successfully reclaimed the Crystal Empire and conquered half of Equestria. He is seen commanding an army of Crystal Ponies under his control in a war against Princess Celestia.

In the seasonsix premiere, Spike mentions King Sombra while telling the Crystal Ponies about how he was defeated. Later, Twilight Sparkle mentions that the reason King Sombra merely hid the Crystal Heart rather than getting rid of it was to stop the Frozen North's weather from breaching the empire.

Magic

King Sombra in his shadow form.

Twilight Sparkle says that King Sombra uses dark magic. Black crystals shoot out of the ground as he advances towards the Crystal Empire, and he turns into a shadow in various scenes, dodging attacks and traveling large distances. His horn dissolves when it touches Princess Cadance's protective shield around the empire, and he is eventually repelled by her Crystal Heart magic.

Depiction in comics

The Midtown Comics cover variant of Friendship is Magic Issues #4 and
#5 are two halves that when put together feature King Sombra's eyes in the background. Covers A, B and the Hot Topic variant of Issue #18 and cover A of Issue #19 feature King Sombra as well.

He appears at the end of Friendship is Magic Issue #17 emerging from a magical mirror, his figure covered in shadows and his eyes glowing green. In Issue #18, Princess Celestia talks about the King Sombra of another world she'd visited, where he rules Equestria with kindness and benevolence. This Sombra is revealed to be in love with Celestia, who loves him in return. In Issue #19, the original King Sombra is shown in a stained glass window and in Twilight Sparkle's memory of his defeat. The alternate universe King Sombra makes plans with the Mane Six on how to stop the alternate Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. In Issue #20, the alternate Sombra and the Mane Six go to the Castle of the Two Sisters and enact their plan to defeat the evil Celestia and Luna. Upon realizing their plan will imprison the good Celestia too, Sombra uses the Elements of Harmony to absorb the alternate princesses' evil and becomes just like the original King Sombra, disappearing immediately afterward. In the end, he is shown thinking of Princess Celestia and crying, indicating that a part of him still misses her.

In a flashback detailed in My Little Pony: FIENDship is Magic Issue #1, Sombra is found as a colt in the wasteland of the arctic north and brought to a Crystal Empire orphanage. He could only speak one word - "Sombra" - so it became his name. During his time at the orphanage, Sombra was teased by other foals, but he made a close friend named Radiant Hope. Every year during the Crystal Faire, Sombra suffers severe aches. In one particularly painful year, his unicorn body would have crumbled to pieces if not for Radiant Hope's healing magic.

When he runs off into the frozen wastes one day, Sombra finds a strange red crystal. Calling itself his mother, the crystal reveals to Sombra his true nature: he is actually a living shadow called an "umbrum," created to destroy the Crystal Heart and set free the umbrum army trapped below the Crystal Empire. With his dormant powers awakened, Sombra embraces his destiny; he steals the Crystal Heart away, turns the empire's ruler Princess Amore into a crystal statue, and shatters the statue to pieces. When Radiant Hope informs Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Sombra realizes his defeat is imminent, so he enacts a curse that makes the Crystal Empire vanish.

Back in present day, Sombra's disembodied horn makes its way to the bottom of the spiral staircase, appearing to still contain his essence. In My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Issue #34, Radiant Hope uses her healing magic on Sombra's horn to completely restore his body. In Issue #35, he frees the villains that Hope gathered, and he is soon forced to battle Celestia and Luna once more, eventually turning them to stone. In Issue #36, Sombra makes plans to release the umbrum army beneath the Empire, briefly putting him at odds with Queen Chrysalis. By the end of the issue, he releases the umbrum from their prison after Twilight's intervention results in Radiant Hope getting injured.

In Issue #37, Sombra declares himself emperor and prepares to invade the rest of Equestria, but Hope's words about choosing one's own destiny deeply affect him. After a change of heart, he saves the Crystal Empire from the umbrum, and Hope and the princesses use their magic to turn him into a real unicorn. In the end, Sombra sets out with Hope to find the fragments of Princess Amore's statue and restore her.

Merchandise

Series 2 of Enterplay's trading cards includes a card featuring King Sombra, #28. Both sides of the card list his name with a trademark symbol, and the back of the card includes the description "After being turned to shadow and banished to the frozen north for 1,000 years, this black-hearted unicorn is back for revenge! The mere mention of King Sombra's name strikes fear into the hearts of ponies all across the Crystal Empire, and it's easy to see why! Sombra recently returned, only to be defeated again by Princess Cadance and the Power of the Crystal Heart. Some say that his horn survived his defeat, but only time will tell if he will ever return."[1]
Sombra also appears on the WeLoveFine T-shirts "Minimal Sombra", "Sombra's Wrath", "King Sombrero", "RD Big Adventure", "Sombra Crystal Silhouette", and "Mythical Sombra", and is shown on Acidfree's firstart print.[13]

Promotional material

King Sombra first appeared on Hasbro's Pony Wedding microsite, which has been accessible since July 2012, before any information about the character was released publicly. The quiz does not refer to him by name.[14][15] In the microsite's Wedding Quiz section, the quiz "Your dream wedding location!" includes the question "Who should be the MC?", with Sombra as the choice that steers the quiz's result to the Crystal Empire.[14]

Writer M. A. Larson wrote on Twitter regarding the quiz's image of King Sombra that was presented to him: "Interesting. I read about that in a script but never seen it before."[16]

King Sombra is included in Hasbro's online game Crystal Empire Seek & Find as one of the items in level 5.[17]

In the HubNetwork game Adventure Ponies 2, King Sombra is the first boss.

Other depictions

Discovery Family description

He's only the scariest pony ever -- he can even appear as black smoke. King Sombra enslaved the Crystal Ponies, and when Princesses Celestia and Luna banished him, he made the Crystal Empire disappear. The ponies used the Crystal Heart, plus the power of love, to restore the Empire -- and shatter this evil Unicorn forever.[sic][note 1]

The Elements of Harmony guidebook

KING SOMBRA ruled the Crystal Empire thousands of years ago but was banished and turned to shadow. Before he disappeared, the snarling black-hearted monster made the kingdom disappear and destroyed hope and love in the process. He recently returned but was thwarted by Twilight Sparkle and her pony friends.[18]

King Sombra is a character in Gameloft's mobile game. His in-game description states "The former tyrant ruler of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra is one unnerving unicorn! With his powerful dark magic, piercing green eyes and crazy laughter, this shadowy shadow dweller is the stuff nightmares are made of!"

Personality

King Sombra smiling.

King Sombra is described by Princess Celestia as a unicorn whose heart is "black as night". In terms of personality, King Sombra is sadistic, fierce, and cruel, as evidenced by his referring to the Crystal Ponies as his "crystal slaves" and appearing to take delight in seeing them suffer. Though rarely speaking, he appears desperate to retake the Crystal Empire, as he chases Shining Armor and the Mane Six during their first encounter and curses Shining Armor, causing black crystals to grow on his horn and nullify his magic, and when rushing toward Spike in an attempt to regain the Crystal Heart.

In My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Issue #18, a parallel version of King Sombra in another world is stated by Celestia to rule that world's Equestria with "kindness and benevolence", as opposed to the King Sombra seen in the series. In his introduction, he is generally very kind and polite. He is also quite dashing and charming, as evidenced by Rarity and Fluttershy swooning over him. The alternate Sombra is later revealed to be deeply in love with Celestia, who reciprocates his feelings.

Alternate King Sombra and Princess Celestia.

This Sombra also has a humble side, considering himself a normal pony who is also a king, shown when he has a heart-to-heart with Twilight Sparkle, helping her in her doubts of being a princess. Unlike the original, this King Sombra is selfless, as he gives up himself to evil to spare the good Celestia and restore balance to both their worlds, even if it means never seeing the pony he loves again, as even after being taken by evil he mourns his beloved Celestia, now lost to him, possibly forever.

In My Little Pony: FIENDship is Magic Issue #1, Sombra is shown to have been friendly, caring, and shy during his youth. However, after learning about his origin, he becomes evil and power-mad, referring to himself as the "king of all monsters."

In Siege of the Crystal Empire, Sombra holds a grudge toward Radiant Hope for her apparent betrayal and the princesses for his imprisonment, and he bears a great deal of self-consciousness in regard to his true nature. However, he still cares deeply for Hope, demonstrated by his concern for her well-being. Sombra also develops an imperious attitude, referring to Queen Chrysalis as a "queen of vermin".